Two Teams And a Child
by Wolfpoet
Summary: While on an errand for professor Port, team RWBY stumbles across a young child. Ozpin assigns teams RWBY and JNPR to care for the boy, which can only lead to disasters. But the child hides secrets. Secrets that the team will find hard to accept. How will this boy bring the teams together? How will he tear them apart?
1. Chapter 1

I_ used to be powerful_.

A very short figure ran through the forever fall forest, gasping for oxygen. They were getting closer.

_Now look at me_.

The figure paused for a moment. He was getting tired. He wouldn't be able to keep this up forever.

_I'm pathetic_.

A roar sounded not to far away, and the boy began running again. Tears were streaming down his cheeks.

_This is your fault_!

The boy tripped on a tree root and landed face first in the ground. He quickly rolled over and tried to get up, but it was too late. They were here. Why was this happening to him. What had he done to deserve this?

_You will pay..._

Four Ursas towered over the young boy, claws outstretched and aimed at their captive.

_Even if its not by my hand..._

The boy screamed.

_You will die._

* * *

Team RWBY walked through the forever fall forest, led by their cheerful leader Ruby Rose. In their hands, each carried a small jar.

"This is such a waste of time." The white haired heiress complained. "If professor Port so desperately needs these Ursa fur samples, why doesn't he get them himself?"

"Oh cheer up." Yang told the girl, her usual smile on her face.

"Yeah Weiss." Ruby agreed with her sister. "Just look at it as a team bonding exercise." Weiss mumbled a few things but was otherwise quiet. Blake Belladonna, as usual, was silent. Ruby was about to say something else, when a loud scream erupted through the air. All four girls dropped their jars and unveiled their weapons.

"Was that a kid?" Yang asked no one in particular.

"It was close." Blake said. With her advance Faunus hearing she could pinpoint the location of the sound.

"Lead the way, Blake." Ruby told her teammate. With a small nod the cat girl took off, her teammates close behind her.

* * *

The young boy screamed again. It was all he could do. He had a weapon, but what good would it do him if he didn't know how to use it? Actually, he didn't even have his weapon, he must have dropped it somewhere. Not that it mattered. The Ursa closest to him raised up its paw. The boy shut his eyes tightly, buried his face into his blue sweatshirt, and waited for the heavy paw to pound him into the ground...

But the blow never came. He waited a few more seconds before opening his eyes. In front of him, blocking the Ursas claws with a scythe, stood a girl with short hair and a short dress. She glanced back at him as she struggled to keep the Ursas claws from getting closer. She seemed to be inspecting him. There really wasnt much too see. He was very short, only about three feet tall, he wore a baggy blue sweatshirt, brown pants, and he had textured black hair.

"Are you ok, kid?" She asked with a remarkably calm voice. He tried to nod, but before he could move he was swooped away into someone else's arms. He looked up. A girl with white hair had picked him up and carried him to a safe distance. She put him down and pointed her weapon, a very slender sword, at the Ursas.

"Stay here." She told him, her voice and her icy blue eyes told him that she was serious. He quickly nodded.

"Weiss!" The girl with the scythe called. The white haired girl, apparently named Weiss, pushed something on her swords handle then stabbed the ground. A line of ice shot up from the blade then crawled across the ground all the way to the group of Ursas. The girl with the scythe jumped out of the way, just in time because when the ice touched the Ursas their feet were suddenly covered in cold crystals. The four Ursas roared in anger as they tried to move, but found they were frozen in place.

"Yang, Blake!" Scythe girl called out. Two more girls appeared from no where, one with bright yellow hair and the other with black hair. The yellow haired girl gave a few fiery punches to a couple of the Ursas, each punch landed right on their nose. With a few of what sounded like gun shots coming from the girls gauntlets, the Ursas were down. The black haired girl pulled out a katana from behind her back and slashed at the remaining creatures. It didnt take long for them to fall as well.

When all was said and done, and the creatures lied in a big furry heap, all the girls came over to the boy.

"Are you ok?" The blonde girl asked as she kneeled down to his eye level. The boy nodded but backed up a few steps.

"What's wrong?" The scythe girl asked. She still had her weapon out, but it was slung over her shoulder. The boy couldn't help but stare at the huge thing.

"Ruby! Put your weapon away you're scaring him!" The white haired girl, Weiss, hissed at her.

"Oops!" The girl, Ruby, replied and put away the scythe. The boy looked back at the yellow haired girl that still kneeled in front of him.

"Well, my names Yang." She said gently. She seemed to know how to deal with children.

"I'm Weiss." The snowy haired girl introduced.

"I'm Ruby!" She seemed to be the youngest.

"And I'm Blake." The last girl said softly.

"What's your name?" Yang asked him. He thought for a moment.

"My name is Shin." He spoke very quietly and his voice sounded extremely fragile. "But people call me Sho... I think."

"You think?" Weiss repeated his words as a question.

"I can't remember that much." He pronounced his 'r' like they were 'w'. The four girls looked at each other with concern before looking back at him. "I woke up in this forest and we walked around for a little bit-"

"Wait did you say 'we'?" Blake interjected.

"Yea, me and... Tao!" Sho began looking around. "Oh no, Tao! I lost him! Please! You gotta help me find him!" The four girls were already jumping into action.

"Yang, Blake!" Ruby began. "You guys take the West side. Weiss and I will take Sho and look on the East side!" Just as they were about to split up, Sho exclaimed;

"Tao! There you are!" A small creature pranced out of the forest. It was about the size of a cat, it's fur was red except for its black legs, and it had a tail that was similar to that of a raccoon's. In its mouth was a stick about a foot long. Sho rushed forward and scooped the animal up in his arms. "Tao I'm so glad you're ok!"

Weiss was the first to speak up. "Um... What exactly _is_, Tao?" Sho released the animal from his grasp before looking up at them all with a wide grin.

"Tao is a baby red panda. He's also my best friend." He said happily. "Hey! You found Satsuma!" Sho took the gold colored stick from the red pandas mouth and placed it in a diagonal holder that hung on his back. Seeing the confused looks on the girls faces, he tried to explain. "My papa gave me Satsuma for my fifth birthday last week. He said," Sho interrupted himself with a yawn. "That it was for protection. That's all I can remember." Again he yawned. Yang picked Sho up.

"Here, why don't you rest while we take you to someone for help?" She asked him. But Sho was already asleep.

"Aw, that's adorable." Ruby grinned.

"Poor child, who knows how long he was wandering around out here." Weiss said.

"So should we take him to the police?" Blake asked.

"Nah, screw the police." Yang replied quietly, as not to wake the sleeping boy. "They can barely solve a simple theft, no way am I going to leave this sweet little boy in their care." Meanwhile, Ruby began playing with Tao.

"So what are we supposed to do? We obviously can't keep him. I have enough problems keeping up with Ruby. I don't need to look after another child." Weiss said.

"Hey!" Ruby yelled, earning a 'shhh' from the other three girls.

"Lets just go to professor Ozpin." Ruby suggested as she stood up, Tao laying comfortably in her arms. "He'll know what to do."

"That seems reasonable." Blake agreed.

"Cool with me." Yang added.

"Whatever." Weiss said, trying to act as if she didn't really care.

"Then lets go!" Ruby exclaimed, again earning a 'shhh' from her teammates. She then began skipping happily in the direction of Beacon Academy.

"Hey Yang, you seem to be very good with children." Blake observed as they began walking. Yang grinned.

"Well, Ive had to take care of Ruby all these years, so I should be good at it by now."

"Hey!"

"Shhh!"

* * *

"Hmm." Ozpin mumbled as he inspected the small child In Yang's arms. Team RWBY all stood in the professor's office, Ozpin was giving Sho a quick look over and Glynda Goodwitch watched quietly from the shadows. "And you say you found him in the forever fall forest?" Ozpin asked.

"Yes sir." Ruby answered. "He was being attacked by a group of Ursi." The professor looked down at Tao, who was sitting contently on his desk.

"And this little red panda was with him?"

"Yes sir."

The professor made another 'hmmm' sound and focused back in on the boy. He lightly poked his head, causing the small child to stir. "Sho." Ozpin said lightly. The boy lifted his head up and looked at the strange man.

"Hello." Sho greeted as he sleepily rubbed his eye. "Where am I?"

"You're at Beacon Academy, have you heard that name before?" Yang asked. The boy shook his head no.

"Sho, you say you don't remember anything from before you woke up in the forest, besides what you have told these four girls, is that true?" Ozpin asked. Sho nodded.

"I'm hungry." He said suddenly. Ozpin smiled.

"Well I'm sure these young ladies wouldn't mind showing you to the cafeteria." He said gently.

"With all due respect sir, we came here to ask you where we should take this boy. Maybe to the police or a day care or something? We need to try and contact his family." Weiss piped up.

"Well of course we will try to contact his family. But we don't really know who his family is." Ozpin said. "I will begin to do a little research, but for now I think it would be good for Sho to stay with you girls."

"What?!" Weiss exclaimed. Yang, Ruby and Blake all looked at each other, all of them were surprised, to say the least.

"I said, I think it would be a good idea if Sho stayed with you girls for a while. Oh, and Tao too." Ozpin repeated.

Sho had a wide grin. "You mean I get to stay with my new friends? Yay!" Yang sat him down on the floor.

"Sho would you mind going out in the hall for a second?" She asked gently.

"I think that's a good idea. Ms Goodwitch, would you go with him?" Ozpin asked. The blond woman looked at him before nodding. She walked over to the door and waited for the boy. Sho looked warily from Ms GoodWitch to Ruby.

"Oh, it's ok Sho. She's a nice lady." Ruby assured him. "Why don't you take Tao with you?" Sho nodded.

"Ok Tao lets go with Ms Goowith." He said as he grabbed Tao and headed for the door.

"It's Goodwitch." The woman corrected him as they both exited the room. When they were gone, Weiss began her rant.

"Sir, with all due respect, you can't be serious! The four of us have enough on our plate without having to take care of a kid!" She yelled.

"Sir," Blake chimed in. "I don't think that Beacon Academy would be a good place for Sho to stay, especially if we are the ones takin care of him."

"Yeah, Sho's cute and Tao is really fluffy, but taking care of a kid would take up a lot of time." Ruby piped up.

"Sho should be somewhere where people will have have the time to properly take care of him and play with him." Yang agreed.

Ozpin sipped his cup of coffee and looked at each of the girls. "You may have a point." He said, earning a collective sigh of relief from team RWBY. He then opened his scroll, pressed a few holographic buttons on the screen, and spoke into it; "Please send team JNPR to my office." He then close it.

"Um.. Why is team JNPR coming down here?" Ruby asked after a few moments.

"They will be assisting you in this endeavor." Ozpin said as if it were simple. "Between the eight of you, there should always be someone available to take care of Sho. And, to make sure of this, I will put all of you on a relaxed schedule." Weiss was about to say something else, but a knock on the door interrupted her.

"Come in." Ozpin said loudly. The door opened and team JNPR filed into the room, their eyes widened slightly when they saw team RWBY already there. "That was quick." Ozpin observed.

"We were nearby when we got your message, sir." Jaune Arc, leader of team JNPR, said nervously. The blonde boy shuffled over to stand next to Ruby. "Are we in trouble?" He asked quietly.

"Not exactly." Ruby whispered back, leaving Jaune with a puzzled expression.

After team JNPR was briefed on the situation, both teams were quiet for a few moments.

"You mean we get to play with him any time we want?" Nora asked suddenly with a large smile. Ozpin cautiously nodded, wondering if this had been a good idea after all. Nora squealed in delight. "This is going to be so much fun! We can watch cartoons and eat cookies and play with toys and-"

"Nora," Lie Ren interrupted calmly, effectively silencing the girl. The orange haired hammer wielder looked over at her child hood friend.

"Yes Ren?" She asked innocently.

"Remember, he's only five and he's probably scared out of his mind. We need to be gentle around him." Nora smiled.

"Ok." She said without further argument.

"Professor, Im still not sure I completely understand. Why are we the ones you assigned to take care of the child?" Pyrra Nikos asked. Ozpin looked over at her.

"Think of it as a new challenge." He mused. "You must find a way to balance your school work, training and the care of Sho and Tao. Any expenses, such as food or clothing, I will cover."

"Yes, but why don't we just take him to the police. I'm sure they are more than capable of handling this." Pyraa continued. Ozpin sighed.

"I believe I may know the boys parents." He said, earning surprised expressions from both teams. "But I'm not for certain. If I am correct, you only have to care for the boy for a week or two. I'm sure you can hold out that long. If you are successful and don't lose or kill Sho and Tao, I will boost your grade an entire letter grade."

"Done!" Jaune cried out suddenly. He was not doing so well in a few of his classes, so the letter grade boost was just what he needed.

"Jaune..." Pyraa muttered.

"What?" The blond replied. "It's only for a week or two. Besides, it's a joint effort with team RWBY. How difficult could it be?" He then turned to the professor. "We'll do it sir." He said confidently. The grey haired man nodded.

"Mhm." He said before looking in the direction of team RWBY.

Ruby looked at her teammates. Blake and Yang both nodded, and Weiss merely rolled her eyes. Ruby looked back at Ozpin. "We're in." She said with a smile.

"Very good." He stated. "Ms Goodwitch, will you bring him in please?" He called. The door opened and the blond woman and Sho, holding his companion Tao, walked in the room. Upon seeing the group if new people, he hurriedly hid behind Yang.

"Sho, it's ok." She assured him. "These are friends of ours." The boy slowly stepped out from behind the blond girl.

"Ohhhh! He's so cute!" Nora exclaimed. Ren put a hand on her shoulder.

"Remember, gentle." He reminded her. Nora nodded.

Jaune stepped forward and kneeled down to the boys eye level. "Juane Arc." He said with a smile and held his hand out to the boy. Sho put down Tao and warily shook Jaune's hand.

"I'm Shin. But people call me Sho." He said softly.

"Well it's nice to meet you Sho." Jaune told him.

"My name is Pyraa." The red headed Spartan said, her smile matching Jaune's in warmth.

"I'm Nora! We are going to have so much fun!" She said gleefully.

"And my name is Ren." He said gently.

Sho looked at all of them, then back at team RWBY. "Well, now that that has been settled," Ozpin spoke up. "Why don't you all take Sho and Tao to the cafeteria. I'm sure they are both very hungry."

"Ok, lets go!" Ruby said happily. She was surprised when she felt something grab her hand. She looked down to see Sho, looking back up at her. She smiled before continuing out the door, followed by both teams.

When they all were gone, Ms Goodwitch walked over to stand behind Ozpin. "Do you really think its him?" She asked in monotone. Ozpin removed his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"I'm almost certain. It's fortunate that the boy lost his memory." He replied.

"Yes, no one, especially not a child as young as he, should have to bear the memories of the horrible things he's seen." Glynda replied.

"Now, Ms Goodwitch. That wouldn't be concern in your voice would it?" Ozpin asked light heartedly. Glynda merely scoffed before walking out the door. Ozpin chuckled and sat down in his chair.

"Oh what have you gotten yourself into now?" He asked as he looked at a picture on his desk.

* * *

_You can't protect him._

_It doesn't matter where he is._

_He will die._

* * *

me

(Well, that's all for now. Hope you enjoyed. I look forward to writing more chapters. Please give me feedback on what you thought was good and what I could improve on. Id like to know if anyone else is interested in this concept before I continue it. Anyway, Merry Christmas! Or happy whatever you celebrate!)


	2. Settling in

After the talk in professor Ozpin's office, the group of friends sat in the lunchroom at their usual table. Sho sat in between Yang and Blake, scarfing down some bow-tie pasta they had been serving for lunch. Tao was latched onto Blake's back, and the girl was feeding him bits of bananas and other fruits.

"Poor kid sure was hungry." Yang observed. She reached down and ruffled Sho's black hair. "Don't eat too fast, kid. You'll get the hiccups." She warned. The boy looked up at her, smiled and went back to eating, but this time he ate a bit slower. As he ate, Nora began telling him stories of her adventures, and Ren corrected the small details that she got wrong.

"The beowolves were ten feet tall!" The orange haired girl exclaimed.

"Nora, they were shorter than you." Ren corrected. Nevertheless, Sho listened with anticipation.

While they did that, Weiss focused her attention back on Ruby, Jaune and Pyrra. "So you're all perfectly fine with this?" She asked with a slight tone of disbelief. Pyraa shrugged.

"Well, Im not exactly on par with having to look after a child." She said as her eyes traveled down to her plate of salad. "But our leaders have accepted the task from the professor. We have no choice but to follow their lead."

"Oh come on guys!" Jaune said. "You're all acting like this is a bad thing."

"Yeah!" Ruby agreed. "This is going to be fun!"

Weiss glared at the short haired girl. "Are you kidding me?!" She asked loudly. A few of their table mates looked at her curiously, so she lowered her voice. "Ruby this is not a good thing! Both of our teams were supposed to spar against each other tonight at the training hall. But now we can't do that because we have to take care of Sho."

Ruby and Jaune glanced at each other before looking back at Weiss. "Just because we have to look after Sho and Tao doesn't mean we can't train. We'll just take them with us." Jaune said. Ruby nodded in agreement. Weiss face palmed and Pyraa shook her head.

"You two can't be serious." Weiss muttered.

"What?" Jaune asked with a confused tone.

"Jaune, we can't take a child to the training halls. He might get hurt." Pyraa said simply. Jaune sighed.

"Yeah I guess it would be a bit too dangerous..." Ruby said quietly. Suddenly she and Jaune stood up.

"Leader meeting!" They both said simultaneously.

Weiss looked at them both, confused. Pyraa did the same. "Leader what?" She asked them both.

Jaune walked over to stand next to Ruby. "Leader meeting." He said with a small grin. "It's something that me and Ruby decided to start doing. When we have a situation that involves both our teams, we will have a quick discussion on what would be the best plan." He explained.

"Shouldn't that be discussed with the entire team?" Pyraa questioned.

"Well, in some cases, yes." Ruby answered. "But that's what team meetings are for. Don't worry though, we'll make sure to run everything by you guys first. We are just stepping out to free ourselves from any distractions. To tell the truth, it was Ozpin that suggested we try it." She paused for a moment. "So... If you'll excuse us." With that, Jaune and Ruby walked out of the cafeteria.

With a sigh, Weiss went back to eating her lunch. But Pyraa watched them leave, her eyes narrowed slightly, then went back to poking at her salad. No one seemed to notice this, no one except Yang that is. "What's wrong Pyraa?" She asked, a light smirk playing on her lips.

Pyraa shook her head. "Nothing." She answered quickly. "Nothing's wrong." Yang knew that she was lying, but choose to leave it alone. For now.

"Can I have one of those?" Sho asked suddenly. Yang looked to see the boy pointing at Ruby's abandoned 'lunch', which was really a plate of cookies. Yang looked down at the boys bowl, it was licked clean.

"Jeez Sho. You act like you've never seen food before." She joked, promoting the boy to blush slightly. "Well you did eat all of your lunch, so you are entitled to a little dessert." With that, she reached across the table, grabbed one of the cookies, and gave it to Sho. The boy thanked her and began wolfing it down.

Weiss glared at the yellow haired girl. "You know, a simple 'please pass a cookie' would have been more polite. No need to reach over the table like a heathen." She stated. "As long as we're taking care of him, we might as well teach Sho some manners." Yang merely rolled her eyes and glanced over at her partner.

Blake, as always, was quietly reading a book. What made the situation amusing was the fact that the normally serious girl had a baby red panda on her back. The creature had poked its head over Blake's shoulder, and she was feeding it pieces of fruit. Yang grinned.

"You seemed to have gotten pretty attached to Tao." She said. Blake glanced at her before going back to her book and feeding the animal another piece of fruit.

"He's very soft." She said, her voice in its usual monotone. Yang chuckled before joining Sho in listening to another one of Nora's tales.

After a few more minutes, Jaune and Ruby reappeared in the cafeteria.

"That was relatively quick." Weiss observed when the two had made their way over to the table. The two leaders didn't respond, and instead stood side by side at the end of the table. Both of them wore a small smile, evidently proud of whatever they had come up with. All the other members from both teams, including Sho and Tao, went silent and directed their attention to the team leaders. Even Blake set down her book.

"We've come up with a plan." Ruby began.

"Well hurry up and tell us, sis." Yang said as she wiped pasta sauce off of Sho's face with a napkin.

"I was about to, before you interrupted me, Yang!" Ruby retaliated. "Any way, as I was saying, we've come up with a plan. Tonight at seven o clock our teams will spar, just like we agreed to do. But Jaune and I will stay behind at the RWBY dorm and look after Sho. Th-"

"I'm not sure that's a good idea." Pyraa interjected, prompting Ruby to mutter something about people continuing to interrupt her.

"Neither am I." Weiss agreed.

"I don't think it's a good plan either." Yang said.

"Maybe of you guys would stop interrupting me and let me explain, you'd understand-" Ruby stopped talking when Jaune poked her head.

"Why don't we let them give their reasons first?" He suggested a bit shyly. With a sigh, Ruby nodded. "Ok, so why do you all disagree?" He asked.

"I think the sparring session would be pointless if neither team had a leader." Weiss told her reason first.

"I think it would be good to experiment without leaders." Ruby told them. "What if Jaune or I go down in a battle? You guys have to be able to continue on without us." Weiss nodded slightly after a few moments.

"That is actually good reasoning..." She mumbled but said nothing else.

"Well I think that, if we're going to look after Sho in pairs, that we should do it by partners." Pyraa said quickly, promoting Yang to throw a suspicious glance at her.

"We thought about that," Jaune replied. "But after tonight, we will only be looking after Sho one at a time. Besides, if it went by partners, then the teams for tonight's sparring match would be uneven."

"Well why are you two going together tonight?" Yang asked before Pyraa could.

"Because we're the team leaders." Jaune answered. "And it's our job to know everything about our team's assignments. So, tonight, when we are playing, I mean looking after Sho, we will find out everything about him. Favorite foods, favorite games, what he's allergic to, bathroom schedules, stuff like that. We will then relay all that stuff back to you guys."

Sho, who hadn't really been listening to the conversation, suddenly looked up. "Can I just come to training with you guys?" He asked. Ruby shook her head.

"Sorry Sho, but it would e too dangerous." She told him. "Maybe next time." Sho nodded but still looked a bit sad. "Don't worry. I promise we'll have lots of fun." This seemed to bring up the boys spirits a little bit.

"My main concern is you two alone with Sho." Yang said finally. "No offense to you guys, but you aren't exactly... What's the word I'm looking for?"

"Responsible." Blake said as she fed a strawberry to Tao.

"Yeah!" Yang exclaimed. "You two aren't the most responsible people in the world. I mean, Ruby's only fifteen, and Jaune might as well be the same age! Again, no offense Jaune."

"None taken." Jaune said.

"Oh don't worry sis." Ruby reassured her. "We'll be extra extra extra responsible. Besides, if anything goes wrong we can always call you guys." Yang thought for a moment.

"Well, if you two promise to be super responsible, and to call us if anything goes wrong, then I guess it's ok."

"We promise!" Jaune and Ruby said simultaneously.

"Anyway, after tonight we will be looking after Sho one at a time." Ruby continued. "The schedule will be decided by professor Ozpin, since he's the one with control over our class schedules." She paused. "Now Blake, Yang, Ren and Nora. Ozpin gave you all two free periods, so would you all mind taking Sho to town and buying him some new clothes?" She asked. The four looked at each other before nodding. "Great!" Ruby said happily and tossed Blake a small plastic card. She caught it and looked it over.

"A credit card?" She asked.

"A debit card." Ruby corrected. "Ozpin gave it to us to use or Sho's expenses."

"Who cares what it's called?! Free money!" Yang exclaimed and attempted to snatch the card away. Only for it to be held out of her reach by Blake.

"Whatever you do, don't give Yang that card." Ruby warned, earning her a sharp glare from her sister. Blake nodded. Ruby was about to say more, but then bell rang, signaling that it was time to go the next period. "Well, I guess that means its time for us to go to class." She said, regarding herself, Weiss, Pyraa and Jaune.

"Yeah, come on Sho!" Yang exclaimed as she ruffled the young boys hair. "Lets go get you some new clothes!" Sho smiled.

"Ok!" He said happily. Tao, much to Blake's disappointment, hopped off of her back and perched himself on Sho's shoulder.

* * *

Later, at around seven o clock, Weiss, Ruby, Pyraa and Jaune all sat quietly in the team RWBY dorm.

"Where are they?" Weiss asked. She sat on her bed, tapping her foot up and down as she waited impatiently. "We should've been at the training halls by now!"

"Maybe there was a long line at the store." Ruby suggested. Just as she finished saying this, the door to the room opened to reveal an ecstatic looking Yang.

"Introducing the all new, and all suave, Sho!" She yelled as if she were an announcer. She stepped out of the way to reveal Sho, but he looked very different. Instead of his dirty brown jeans and baggy blue sweatshirt; he wore a white t-shirt, black leather jacket, denim blue jeans and dark sunglasses. Tao, who was perched on his shoulder, also had a pair of black sunglasses on. Ren, Blake and Nora filed into the room behind him and closed the door. They all were carrying two shopping bags.

Jaune, Weiss, Ruby and Pyraa all had their mouths open. "What did you do to him?" Weiss asked with a bit of anger in her voice.

"I just made him ten times cooler. That's all." Yang said with a grin. Weiss looked over at Ren and Blake, the only two she had expected to tae the shopping trip somewhat seriously.

"Please say you bought actual clothes and not a bunch of leather." She begged. Meanwhile Sho hurried over to Ruby, Jaune and Pyraa to flaunt off his new clothes a bit more.

"Don't worry." Ren assured her. "Yang and Nora preferred to buy more... Eccentric clothing. But Blake and I made sure Sho had some practical clothes." Weiss breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh thank goodness." She said before clapping her hands, getting everyone's attention. "Ok, lets get to the training halls. We've lost enough training time as it is." She announced. Everyone, Assisi from Jaune Ruby Sho and Tao, headed for the door.

"Good luck you two!" Yang told them as she exited the room.

Pyraa was the last to leave, but before she left she told them, "We will be back soon." And then they were gone. Jaune and Ruby were alone with Sho and Tao.

"So." Jaune said, breaking the silence that had overtaken them. He looked down at Sho. "What do you want to do?"

"Why won't you guys let me train with you?" Sho asked.

"Well, training is very dangerous. We don't want you to get hurt." Jaune told him. "Besides, you don't have a weapon to train with."

"Yes I do!" Sho argued.

"You do?" Ruby asked with a puzzled expression. Sho nodded and took off the sun glasses.

"Uh huh! Look, I'll show you." The small boy ran over to one of the shopping bags that had been placed on the floor. He seared through it for a few moments before holding up a gold stick that was about as long as he was tall. "See?!" He exclaimed as he brought it over to them. Jaune and Ruby kneeled down to look at it. Upon further inspection, she found that the stick was thick and more like a pole, it was made of a good sturdy material.

"Oh I remember this." Ruby said as she looked at it. "You had it when my team found you. You called it... Um..."

"Satsuma." Sho informed her. "That's his name. Satsuma is a Bo staff that my Papa gave me for my birthday last week."

"It's very... Nice." Jaune told him as he slid his hand over the staff.

"I remember that papa said it was more than just a staff. He said he would train me to use it." After saying this, Sho sadly down at the ground. "I guess now Ill never learn." He said softly. Suddenly he felt arms wrap around him in a hug. It was Ruby.

"Don't worry Sho. We'll find find your family." She assured him. She couldn't even imagine what it was like for the boy, not even able to remember who his family was or what they were like. "How about, next time, we take you to the training hall with us and you can practice?" She asked as she pulled away from the hug. Sho's face lit up.

"Really?" He asked her. The short haired girl nodded with a smile. "Thanks Ruby!" He yelled as he hugged her again. Jaune chuckled at how, when Sho said 'Ruby', it sounded more like Wuby.

"Are you sure that's a good idea Ruby?" Jaune asked her when Sho went to go put his weapon by the dresser. The girl nodded.

"Yes. I'm sure." She told him. "Look at how happy he is! We'll just have to make sure someone's with him at all times in the training hall so he doesn't get hurt. Sure, we might miss out on a little training, but that's a small price to pay for a little boys happiness."

Sho suddenly appeared in front of them, a grin plastered on his face. Tao till clung to his back. "Ok!" He yelled. "Are you guys ready to have fun?!"

* * *

About two and a half hours later, at the training hall, everyone was tired. The two teams had sparred up against each other, but there had been no winner. The battle ground they had chose was a rocky cliff side, and the computer had materialized it up for them.

The three members of team RWBY were all sprawled out on the rocky ground. Each of them were panting and were covered in scrapes and bruises. They were all still, letting their Auras slowly heal them.

Team JNPR wasn't much better. It's three members were sitting up against a large boulder only a few feet away. They too, were letting their auras heal them. The two teams had called a truce, then taken a break. After the short break they decided to join up and go against computerized Grimm. Now, only about an our later, they were trying to heal themselves.

"That was... Surprisingly difficult." Weiss admitted as she sat up.

"I guess you don't really know how important someone is until they're gone." Yang stated, not willing to move

"Agreed." Blake stated, also not moving.

"I really hope neither of our leaders go down in a battle." Nora said as she stood up, then helped Ren to his feet. Pyraa stood up on her own.

"Yeah, cause we'd be screwed." Yang agreed as Blake helped her stand up. "What's say we head back to our dorms. I think we've had more than enough for tonight." She suggested. Everyone nodded or groaned in agreement. "Besides, I'm kinda curious how Jaune and Ruby handled Sho and Tao." She added.

"As am I." Pyraa said, though Yang was confident they were curious for two different reasons. With saying another word, the group began heading back to their dorms, with Pyraa leading the charge.

* * *

Pyraa was the first to arrive at the RWBY dorm doorway, but she waited for everyone else to arrive before opening the door. When Yang, the last to appear, finally showed up she looked over at Pyraa.

"What'cha waiting for, cereal box, an invitation?" She quipped. Pyraa ignored her and opened the door.

The room was surprisingly neat, save for a few books that were scattered around the room. Blake made a mental note to talk to Ruby about that later. But that wasnt the groups main focus. Their eyes were instead drawn to the center of the room. A small dome sat in between the two bunk beds, it was constructed from sheets and desk chairs. Weiss was about to speak, when three heads popped out from under the dome. The heads belonged to Sho, Ruby, and Jaune. All of them wore hats made from paper. They each extended out their right arm, holding up cardboard swords.

"Bonzai!" They all yelled simultaneously. Tao popped his head out as well and made a small chirping noise. All was quiet for a few moments...

"What the heck?!" Weiss called out suddenly.

"We made a fort." Ruby said with a cheeky grin. "Isn't it great?"

Before Weiss could reply, Yang and Nora pushed past everyone. "It's awesome!" They both said with excited smiles. Everyone else entered the room as well.

"Can we come in too?" Nora asked hopefully. Sho nodded then disappeared in the fort.

"Look!" He cried when he reappeared, a small bundle in his arms. "We made hats and swords for everyone!" The small boy went around the group, handing out a paper hat and card board sword to each person. Yang and Nora both gleefully took there's before they dived into the fort, managing to kick Jaune in the process. Ruby giggled as he rubbed his cheek, and Sho continued to hand out the paper creations. Pyraa accepted hers with a warm smile, Blake and Ren both said thank you when they took theirs. Weiss merely looked at Sho when he tried to give her a sword and hat.

"Oh wont you please play with us?" Sho asked with a pleading smile. Weiss sighed before taking the two offerings.

"Fine." She mumbled as she put on the hat. Sho's gin grew wide and he pointed his cardboard sword to the mass of sheets and chairs. "To the fort! Bonzai!"

"Bonzai!" Everyone repeated and pointed their swords to the sky. Then all of them, even Weiss, laughed. Perhaps their leaders were right. Maybe this would be an enjoyable experience.

* * *

_Enjoy it while you can._

_You won't be around much longer._

* * *

(I think I like this chapter more than the first one. I don't know why, maybe in just weird like that. Oh well. So, next chapter will most likely involve more plot regular ding Sho's background and why someone is apparently trying to kill him. But it will also have more of the characters getting to know Sho better. I'm thinking that next chapter should be more about Blake and Sho's bond. What do you guys think? Anyway, I tried to incorporate a bit more drama into this chapter regarding Pyraa and Jaune. But I don't think I did to good a job. Well, I hope you enjoyed, don't be afraid to give me some feedback please.)


	3. Blake's turn

"So, have you been able to contact him?" Glynda Goodwitch asked professor Ozpin. The two were in his office, Glynda was standing against the wall as the professor typed something on his holographic scroll. He sighed and spun his chair around to face her.

"No." Ozpin told her with a disappointed tone. "I've tried to contact them every way I could think of. No response. And believe me, I've left many messages. I fear something very bad may have happened."

"How do you think Sho wound up in the Forever Fall Forest?" Glynda questioned. "If something bad occurred, why wouldn't he have stayed there?"

"Sho is young, but he is smart. He likely tried to come to Beacon to get help. But right now all we can do is speculate." Ozpin paused to take a sip of coffee from his cup. "To get any confirmed information we'll have to ask Tao."

"Tao made it clear that he doesn't plan on talking." Glynda replied with a frustrated sigh. "I just don't understand that creature sometimes."

"He may be following orders. But right now, he is the only one that knows what is going on." The professor said.

"So, what do we do now?"

Ozpin took another sip of coffee before responding. "Well, I don't know about you, but I have to inform teams RWBY and JNPR who is looking after Sho today." As Ozpin began typing again, Glynda walked to the door. She opened it, but paused before leaving.

"Do you think he's in any danger?" She asked without looking back.

"I think that as long as he's with RWBY and JNPR, he'll be fine. At least, that's what I hope." He said calmly. Glynda stood still for a moment, pondering over this, then left without another word.

* * *

_beep beep_

Ruby woke up to the sound of her scroll beeping, indicating that she had reviews a message. She woke up, but didn't open her eyes. She was much too comfortable to get up right now. Wait. What time was it? Ruby sat up and opened her scroll. 6 AM. She usually didn't wake up for at least thirty more minutes. The short haired girl stretched her arms over her head, then rubbed her eyes as to remove all the drowsiness left behind by her peaceful sleep. That was when Ruby finally realized she wasn't in her bed. She had fallen asleep on the floor, inside the fort. She smiled, remembering the events of the previous night.

Team RWBY and JNPR had stayed up quite late playing with Sho. The boy had proved to be quite the little box of energy. They had all played in the fort; having imaginary battles with their cardboard swords, playing house, and teaching Sho different card games.

Ruby looked around, and quietly giggled when she realized that team JNPR hadn't gone back to their dorm, they'd fallen asleep in the fort. Ren was sitting up against the wall of the fort, his long hair covered up his closed eyes. Nora had her head in his lap, sound asleep with a smile on her face, much to Ruby's amusement. Pyrhaa sat sleeping next to Ren, her head rested on Ren's shoulder, making it an interesting sight. Jaune was curled up in the fetal position near the entrance of the fort. Yang was sprawled out in the center of the fort, Tao was using her face as a resting place and Sho was using her stomach as a pillow. Ruby smiled, that was adorable. Blake and Weiss were not in the fort, but when Ruby exited the mound of blankets and chairs she found both of them sleeping in their respective beds. Figures, those two had played the games, but when it started to get late they had been the first to retire.

Ruby stood up and shifted a bit uncomfortably. They had all slept in their school uniforms, and hers was a little stiff. She decided to change after she listened to the message on her scroll. She opened up the holograph device and selected the message. It was was an audio file from professor Ozpin titled 'For Ruby and Jaune.'

"Well guess I gotta wake him up." She mumbled to herself before crawling back into the fort. She gently shook Jaune's shoulder. "Jaune, Jaune wake up." Ruby said softly as not to wake up anyone else. Slowly, the blonde boy regained consciousness...

"...I'M AWAK-" Ruby threw her hands over Jaune's mouth when he woke up screaming. A few of the fort members shifted but no one awoke. As quietly as possible, Ruby dragged the struggling boy into the hall before uncovering his mouth.

"Why did you yell?!" Ruby asked when she had shut the door.

"Sorry! The past few days my team has woke up late so I panicked." Jaune said apologetically, a blush spreading across his cheeks. "Wait what time is it?"

"It's six." Ruby told him before flicking him in the forehead. "Next time don't yell."

"So, why did you drag me out here?" The blonde boy asked curiously.

"Well, besides trying to quiet you down, I got a message from Ozpin that's for the both of us." She said as she pressed play on the holographic scroll. Ozpin's voice emitted from the small device.

_"Good morning Mr Arc and Ms Rose. I hope I didn't wake you up to early. I wanted to inform you that I have cleared Ms Belladonna's class schedule for today as it will be her day to look after Sho and Tao. Tell her that she won't have to worry about any homework from any classes she misses, and all the information will be available on the Dustnet. Additionally, whenever any of you are looking after Sho, you are not to take your eyes off him. Not even for a second. That is all. Have a good day."_

When the message ended both team leaders looked at each other. "What was that last part all about?" Ruby asked. Jaune shrugged.

"I don't know." He admitted. "Hey, since its still a bit early, do you want to go pick up breakfast for everybody from the cafeteria?"

"Sure," Ruby replied with a smile. "We'll both go, after we get into new clothes and wash up." Jaune nodded in agreement. The team leaders then went their separate ways, Jaune going into his team's dorm and Ruby going into hers.

Ruby quietly grabbed another one of her school uniforms and changed in the bathroom attached to the dorm. When she was all dressed in a fresh uniform and had brushed her hair and teeth, she opened the door...

"Wuby?" A small voice quietly called out. The short haired girl turned to see Sho, standing in front of the fort sleepily rubbing his eyes.

"Good morning Sho." She said with a smile.

"Good morning. Where are you going?" He asked, obviously still tired.

"I'm just going to go get some breakfast for everyone. Sorry I didn't mean to wake you up."

"It's ok. I'm still sleepy..." He cut himself off with a yawn.

"Here," Ruby stepped forward, leaving the door open, and picked up the young boy. Stepping around the fort, she lifted him up onto her bed. Sho laid his head down on the pillow as Ruby pulled the blanket over him. Tao also exited the fort, climbed up Ruby's body and jumped onto the bed with the boy. She gave them both a warm smile. "You guys don't have to wake up for a little while. Do you want something specific for breakfast?" She asked gently.

"Can I have bacon, scrambled eggs and pancakes? I'm really hungry." He asked as he closed his eyes. "And Tao says he wants a bowl of fruit."

"Coming right up." Ruby said quietly. "You just sleep a bit longer and when you wake up you can eat as much as you want."

"Thank you." Sho said softly. Within seconds, he was back to sleep. Ruby grinned, what a cute little boy. She turned around and jumped a little when she saw Jaune standing in the doorway.

"Jaune, don't stare at people, it's creepy." She joked as she walked over to him.

"Sorry." He quickly apologized. "You're... good with kids." He added as they both exited the dorm room and closed the door.

"Thanks, but Yang's the one that's good with kids. I just kinda copy her." Ruby told him. They talked the whole way there. The subject of their conversation being either about Sho, their teams or assignments from classes.

When they arrived at the cafeteria they weren't surprised to see it virtually empty, after all it was still a bit early. It didn't take long for the two team leaders to get all the food. They decided that they would just get a large stack of pancakes, a mound of scrambled eggs, and a pile of bacon for everyone to share. They also got a fruit cup for Tao. They had the cafeteria staff to put it all in to go boxes, the cafeteria had these boxes for students who wanted to eat their food in their rooms. After putting the boxes of food in large plastics bags to carry, collecting plastic silverware and packets of syrup and paper plates, they both left the cafeteria.

"Do you think we got to much food?" Jaune questioned as they began their walk back to the team dorms. Each leader carried one back with two or three boxes of food.

"Have you seen Yang and Nora eat?" Ruby replied with a question. "The real question you should be asking, is if we got enough." Both of them shared a laugh.

"So, how do you really feel about taking care of Sho?" Ruby asked suddenly.

"How do I feel?" Jaune repeated, receiving an insistent nod from the short haired girl in response. "Well, honestly, I'm terrified of being left alone with him."

"Why?" Ruby asked. "You looked fine yesterday."

"Well that's because you were there." Jaune replied. "I wasn't really alone. I'm scared that if I'm left alone with Sho, I'll screw something up. Like, what if I lose him?" Ruby sighed.

"Jaune, I wish you had more confidence in yourself." She told him. "I know, for a fact, that you would never lose Sho. And, if somehow you did, you wouldn't rest until you found him." She stopped and looked at him. "Right?" The question was serious, but she was confident that she already knew the answer.

"...Right." Jaune told her, a light grin on his face. Ruby smiled right back up at him. It was a sight that made the blonde leader feel calm, it made him happy. She poked his cheek.

"Good." She said cheerfully. "Now lets get back to the teams." And with that they began walking again.

"How do you do that?" He asked her.

"How do I do what?"

"How do you always find a way to make me, to make everybody, feel better. It's like where ever you go people are happy. Except Weiss, but she doesn't count."

Ruby giggled as she tried to hide the blush on her cheeks. "I don't know, guess I'm just naturally awesome."

* * *

It was about seven o clock when they both arrived back at the dorm. They tried the JNPR dorm first, but found no one there. "Guess they're all still at the RWBY dorm." Jaune suggested. Ruby nodded and they both walked across the hall. She opened the door...

"Where have you two been?!" Only to be met with two angry looking girls. Yang and Pyrhaa both stood behind the door, arms crossed and glares so sharp they could've cut a boulder in half. "You two have been gone since we woke up. That was forty five minutes ago." Yang continued. "So, I'll ask again, where have you two been?" Pyrrha didn't say anything, but she looked just as angry as Yang.

"Have you guys been standing in front of this door the whole time?" Jaune asked, disregarding her questions.

"Yes." Blake answered him. She, Weiss and Ren were all dismantling the fort as Nora jumped happily up and down.

"Don't change the subject." Yang stated sternly, stepping closer to the two team leaders. "I wanna know where you guys were, what you were doing and why you were doing it early in the morning." Though they couldn't see, Blake, Weiss, Ren and Nora all stopped working and began listening.

"Easy sis you're acting like you think we just robbed a bank." Ruby joked.

"This isn't funny Ruby. We tried contacting both of you and neither of you answered." Yang told her.

"You did?" Jaune and Ruby asked together. Both of them checked their scrolls and, sure enough, they each had a few messages.

"Oh, I guess we must've missed those. Sorry." Ruby said sheepishly.

"What were you doing?" Yang almost growled.

Both team leaders held up the plastic bags they carried. "Getting breakfast." They said quickly, hoping to avoid Yang's rage.

"...What'd you get?" Yang asked.

"Scrambled eggs, bacon and pancakes." Ruby answered.

"... You are forgiven. But next time leave a note or something." Yang told her, a smile reappearing on her lips. With that, the blonde took both bags and walked back to the others. Ruby quickly followed her sister, but Jaune got trapped and Pyrrha began chewing him out. Throwing him an apologetic glance, Ruby grabbed her plate and began filling it with food.

"Guys, make sure you save some for Sho." Ruby warned, watching as Nora continuously stacked pancakes on a paper plate. With a small warning from Ren, the girl put a few of the pancakes back.

"Oh yeah, Blake," Ruby turned her attention to the resident bookworm, who was feeding Tao the contents of the fruit cup. She was sitting on her bed and a plate of food rested in her lap. She looked up when she heard her name.

"You're looking after Sho today. The professor says that you won't get any homework from the classes you missed, and all the information will be in the Dustnet. Oh and you're not allowed to take your eyes off of him." She added the last part quickly.

Blake's amber eyes flicked over to the young boy sleeping in Ruby's bed. "Ok." She said simply before feeding Tao a strawberry. "Anything else I need to know?"

Ruby thought for a moment as she ate a mouthful of scrambled eggs. "Mmm. I don't mfthink so." She said as she chewed. She received a flick on the back of her head. "Ow!"

"Don't talk with your mouth full." Weiss reprimanded. Ruby mumbled something inaudible before angrily eating a bite of pancakes.

* * *

It wasn't until about eight thirty that the others finally left. They'd all changed into new uniforms, but Blake had changed into her every day clothes.

"Remember Blake, if you need anything just call us." Ruby reminded her teammate as she walked out of the room.

"Oh she'll be fine." Yang assured her sister before closing the door.

Finally, Blake was alone. Well, sort of alone. She still had to take care of Sho, but the boy was still sleeping. To pass the time, Blake sat on her bed and read a book. Very rarely did she get time like this. Peace and quiet, reading by the morning sun as it streamed in through a gap in the window curtains. It was a nice change of pace. She read for another hour, then she heard the small boy begin to stir.

"Good...morning." Sho said sleepily before yawning. Blake marked her page with a bookmark and sat her book down. She then got up and walked over to Ruby's bed.

"Good morning." Blake replied with a warm smile. "Are you hungry?" Sho nodded yes as he pushed the blankets off his body. "Here." Blake picked him up and set him on her bed.

"Where's everyone else?" Sho asked when he noticed the absence of his seven other friends.

"They had to go to class, so we're going to spend the day together." Blake told him as she handed him a plate filled with the last of the breakfast foods.

"Ok. Thank you for the food." Sho said. Tao jumped from Ruby's bed onto Blake's shoulder. "So what are we going to do to day?" The boy asked as he ate his food.

"Well after you finish eating, change into new clothes, and brush your teeth, we could go the library. Do you know how to read?"

"Um... I can only read a few words..." Sho looked down at his feet in embarrassment, then a soft hand ruffled his hair a bit. He looked up to see Blake smiling down at him.

"It's ok." The black haired girl said gently. "I also had trouble reading when I was little."

"Really?"

"Mhmm. How about I read to you?"

"Ok!"

"But first you need to eat."

After Sho ate, Blake got him dressed in khaki shorts and a green shirt. When he had brushed his teeth and put on shoes, Blake took him to the library. Sho's eyes went wide at the sight.

"Woah!" He said as Tao clung on his back. "There's so many books!" He exclaimed, earning a few 'shush's from students trying to read. "Oh... Sorry." He whispered. Blake took him over to a table with four empty chairs and set him down in one.

"You wait here, while I go get a few books. And remember, you need to be quiet in a library." She told him. Sho nodded an ok and watched as the girl walked around a corner. Blake walked over to the library's front desk. The person behind the counter, an elderly man with white hair and a warm smile, looked over at her.

"Hello, how may I help you?" He asked in a warm tone.

"You wouldn't happen to have any picture books, would you?" Blake asked doubtfully. The man shook his head no with a confused expression. "I figured. How about any children's books, or books a child might enjoy?"

The man, still confused, began typing on a scroll. "Hmmm... Let me check..."

Meanwhile, Sho was a bit bored. After all, he was a five year old boy. They tended to get bored easily. Tao was sitting on the wood table and looked around the large library.

"Excuse me?" A small voice said from behind him. Sho looked behind him and saw a small brown haired girl with brown bunny ears. Naturally, because of his young age and his level of curiosity, Sho's eyes went straight to her ears. The girl saw this and her cheeks flushed. "Excuse me?" She repeated.

"Oh, hi." Sho said, snapping out of his small trance.

"Can I sit with you?" She asked, referring to the seat next to him. Sho nodded, eager to have someone to talk to. She sat in the chair and set a few books down on the table. "My name is Velvet." She said in a small voice.

"My name is Shin, but people call me Sho." He told her, then pointed to the red panda on the table. "This is Tao." Velvet gave him a small smile.

"It's nice to meet both of you." She said genuinely.

"I really like your ears." Sho said. "They look pretty on you." Velvet blushed and looked down.

"Thank you, that's sweet." Velvet told him. "I wish everyone thought that." Sho looked confused.

"What do you mean?" He asked. "Doesn't everyone like your ears?"

"...Not exactly." She said a bit sadly. "But, never mind that. Are you here by yourself?"

"No, I'm here with my friend Blake." Velvet nodded.

"Oh Ok. She's really nice." Sho nodded in agreement.

"Mhmm! Blake's really nice. She said she would read to me later. She really likes books. Do you like books, Velvet?" Velvet nodded.

"Yes, I do like books. I like to read books about far off places or deserted islands. I like to imagine that I could go to one of those places." Velvet told him.

"Those kinds of books scare me." Sho said quietly. Velvet looked at him, a bit confused.

"Why do they scare you?" She asked curiously.

"Well, if I went to one of those far out places, I'd miss all my friends. Wouldn't you?" Velvet was quiet for a moment.

"... I don't really have anyone to miss." She said quietly.

"I'd miss you." Sho said, not missing a beat. Velvet looked at him. "And Tao says he'd miss you too." She smiled at the young boy.

"You really are sweet. And you too, Tao." She told him. Velvet had originally come over to Sho to make sure he wasn't lost, and only after a few minutes he'd managed to make her day a bit brighter. "Sho, will you promise me something?" Sho blinked.

"Well, sure Velvet." He told her.

"Promise you'll always stay that way. Always be that sweet little boy and be nice to people, ok?" She asked. She looked serious, but she was smiling, like she already knew what he was going to say.

Sho nodded, a reassuring grin spreading across his face. "I promise Velvet." He told her, his voice soft and serious.

"Sho, are you ready to go?" Blake rounded the corner, carrying a small stack of books. She stopped when she saw someone sitting with the young boy. "Oh hello."

"Blake, look! I made a new friend!" Sho shouted, earning another 'shush' from the students trying to study. "Oops. Sorry again." Blake walked over to him.

"Um... Velvet, right?" Blake asked. Velvet stood up quickly and grabbed her book.

"Yes. Sorry, but I have to go." She turned to Sho and smiled. "It was nice meeting you Sho, you too Tao." Velvet turned to leave when, at the far end if the library, she saw Cardin Winchester. He winked at her, and she felt fear bubble up in the pit of her stomach. "Sho, remember your promise." She said quietly. With that, Velvet hurried to the exit.

Sho watched her go with a frown. He hadn't even gotten to say good bye to his new friend... Blake walked over and kneeled down next to Sho.

"Sho, what was she talking about?" She asked him. He smiled.

"I made a promise." He told her. "I made a promise to stay the same." Blake looked a bit confused at his words, but shook it off.

"Come on, lets go back to the dorm." Sho nodded and stood up. Tao hopped off the table and onto Sho's back. Blake walked alongside Sho, carrying the small stack of books.

"Here, let me help you." Sho said and took a few of the books his friend was carrying. Blake smiled and said a 'thank you'. Together, they both carried the books to the RWBY dorm.

When they got back to the dorm, Sho set the books on the top of the book shelf, next to Blake's bed. The walk to the dorm had been rather quiet, and Blake had caught the boy staring at her a few times.

"Can we read this one first?" Sho held up a book that had a picture of a pig and a spider on the cover.

"Charlotte's Web." Blake said the title aloud. "Ok. We can read that one first." She took the book from Sho and laid down on her bed. The raven haired boy laid next to her and rested his head against her shoulder so he could see the book. What he couldn't see, was Blake's light smile. She opened the book to the first page and began reading.

"'Where's Papa going with that ax?' said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast." Blake began reading. Sho let out a laugh. She looked at him. "What's so funny?" She asked.

"It just sounds funny when you talk like that." He said with another boyish giggled.

"I like to read as if I'm the character." Blake stated matter-of-fact like. Sho just continued to smile, as Blake continued to read.

The book took about an hour and a half to read. Sho's attention never wavered, and whenever he didn't understand something Blake would explain it to him.

"The end." Blake finished. "Did you like the book?" She asked him. Sho looked up at her, a grin plastered on his face.

"Yea! Can we read another?" Sho asked. Blake glanced over at the clock.

"It's almost lunch. How about we meet up with the others at the cafeteria first?" She asked him.

"Mmm... Ok!" He said happily. Blake went to get up, but Sho poked her arm. She looked down at the young boy.

"What is it Sho?" She asked. He pointed to her head.

"You're like Velvet." He said. It was a statement and not a question. Blake looked at him, surprised. She was speechless. She had barely spent two days with Sho, and already he knew. "You're different. But it's a good different... Why do you hide it?" There was a long silence, before Blake sat up. Sho hurried to sit beside her on the edge of the bed.

"Some people..." She paused. "Some people think our differences are bad. And they bully us because of it." She had a sad tone in her voice. She looked down at Sho, she wasn't smiling. But she wasn't exactly frowning either. It was like she was wearing her poker face.

"That's stupid." The boy said, his voice had taken on a dark tone that forced Blake to widen her eyes a little. He was looking at the floor as he spoke. "Why would they do that? It's mean and hurtful and, and... And it's just stupid." He looked up at her, and she was surprised to see his eyes filled up with tears. But he didn't seem sad, he seemed angry.

Blake was still as the boy reached his hand up towards her and lightly pulled the bow from her hair. The black haired girl closed her eyes for a moment as she felt a small breeze on her expose ears. She opened her eyes to see Sho smiling, tears still in his eyes.

"I think you look pretty without the bow." He said as he wiped away tears. Blake gave him a soft smile before hugging him with one arm.

"Thanks..." She told him softly before releasing him. "Now, lets go meet the others for lunch, ok?" She then held out her hand, and Sho hesitantly handed her the black ribbon. After retying her bow, and grabbing another book, Blake and Sho walked down to the cafeteria. Tao hurried and jumped onto Sho's back. Upon arriving, Blake and Sho walked over to the lunch table that was shared by both team RWBY and team JNPR.

"How's mommy and me day going?" The blonde girl called to the pair when they sat down. She was promptly punched in the shoulder by the ebony haired Faunus. "Ow, jeez ok." Yang muttered as she rubbed her new bruise. "Come on Sho lets go get you some food." With that, Sho and Yang went over to the buffet line.

"So really, how did it go?" Pyrhaa asked before anyone else could.

"It was fine." Blake said simply, regaining her usual monotone. She opened her book and began reading, but was quickly interrupted.

"Aren't you going to get some food?" Ruby asked.

"I'm still full from breakfast." Blake answered. Once again, she tried to read her book, but it was a futile effort.

"So, how much fun did you have hanging out with Sho?" Nora asked with a grin. She had leaned forward, dangerously close to Blake, and the Faunus girl was giving her an evil glare. Ren, noticing that the safety of his childhood friend had been compromised, quickly pulled Nora back. Blake threw him a grateful glance, then looked back at Nora.

"He likes books." She answered in monotone.

"Oh well, that must've been fun for you." Jaune offered with a forced smile. His smile was quickly shutdown by Blake's blank eyes.

"So all you did was read books?" Weiss questioned.

"We went to the library, when we got back to the dorm I read to him."

"Sounds fun." Yang interjected as she and Sho strolled up. The little boy held a plate of what appeared to be a grilled cheese and potato chips. He also held a fruit cup for his animal friend. He sat between Yang and Blake, and handed the fruit cup to Blake. Tao hopped to the girls shoulder.

"He likes it when you feed him." Sho told her with a smile.

Throughout the rest of the lunch, everyone had a fun time taking turns telling stories of their most embarrassing moments. Ruby, at one point, threatened to tell everyone the story of Yang and the caramel incident. Her threats, however, were diminished when Yang retaliated with threats to tell the story of Ruby and the neighbors pool. After lunch was over, everyone went back to class, except Blake and Sho who went back to the dorm. When the two arrived, Blake went back to reading Sho the books she'd gotten from the library.

* * *

"I think I'm going to have to file a sexual harassment claim against professor Port." Yang told Ruby and Weiss. The three were heading back to their dorm after a long day of classes. Team JNPR had gone back to their dorm earlier, claiming that they needed to study for a Faunus rights test coming up.

"Oh relax, Yang." Weiss said a bit passively.

"No, I'm serious." Yang argued. "Have you seen the way he looks at me? The way he always stares and winks? It's creepy!"

"Shh!" Ruby chastised. "People are trying to sleep."

When they'd arrived, Ruby pushed open the door, only to be met with the most adorable sight she'd ever seen. Weiss am Yang crowded around to see what she was staring at. Weiss smirked, but Yang grinned and added an "Aww!" Only to be shushed by her two teammates.

Blake and Sho both laid sleeping on the Faunus's bed, Sho was cuddled up to Blake's arm and an open book was resting on the girls stomach. Tao, was huddled next to Sho.

"That's so adorable." Ruby whispered as they all walked in the room. Yang pulled out her scroll and took multiple pictures of the sight.

"I will admit it is quite cute." Weiss admitted as she began to change into her sleepwear. Yang, who began to do the same, looked over to Ruby.

"Hey Ruby," She called quietly, as not to wake Sho and Blake. "Who's watching the kid tomorrow?" Ruby pulled out her scroll and checked it.

"I don't know." She said. "I don't have any messages from Ozpin. Unless he messaged Jaune, but I think Jaune would've told us. I guess we'll just have to wait till morning."

* * *

(Sorry for the late chapter, because it was so late I made it longer. I got sick over the weekend, still am sick actually, and it took me way longer to write this than it should have.

I don't own the story art nor do I own Rwby

By the way, I discovered that I've been spelling Pyrhaa's name wrong this whole time. Oopsies. My bad.

Thanks for the reviews, I enjoyed reading them. Per request, I snuck Velvet into the story a little bit. I plan to have velvet in there a bit more, please tell me if that's something you guys would be interest in seeing.

As always, please review and tell me what I could improve on and what you liked.))


	4. Ren and Nora's turn

_beep beep_

Ruby shifted in her bed. Why did Ozpin have to message her now? He always seemed to wake her up right when she was experiencing the best part of her dreams. But it was no use trying to go back to sleep now. The damage had been done, and sleep would not return to her. Accepting her defeat, Ruby sat up and stretched. She pulled her scroll out from underneath her pillow and checked. Yep, six o clock, and she had one message. It was from Ozpin and it was titled, 'For Ruby and Jaune'.

The short scythe-wielder silently climbed off her bed and onto the floor, before making her way to the door. Luckily, no one stirred or woke as she shut the door behind her. Ruby questioned herself on whether or not she should knock on the JNPR door, as she didn't want to wake up the whole dorm. Oh well. Hesitantly, she knocked on the door.

A minute went by, and no one answered. So, she tried again. This time, the door was answered almost immediately. A very tired looking Jaune, with disheveled blonde hair and fuzzy footie pajamas, opened the door.

"Good morning Jaune." Ruby said cheerfully. The male team leader looked down at her with half open eyes.

"No, not good morning." Jaune said, his voice a bit hoarse as if he'd used it a lot in the last twelve hours. "It is not anywhere near a good morning." He told her. Ruby was taken slightly aback by his tone.

"Jeez, what happened to you?" She asked with a slightly worried voice. Jaune rubbed his face in a futile to attempt to wipe away the grogginess that he felt.

"Was up kinda late studying for the Faunas rights test." He explained to her. Ruby nodded in understanding. "So, what's up?" She pulled out her scroll and opened the message. Jaune stepped into the hallway and closed the door behind him.

"Got a message from Ozpin." She told him as she pressed play.

_"Good morning Mr. Arc, and Ms. Rose. I have sent you this message to inform you that Mr. Ren and Ms. Valkyrie will be looking after Sho today. I know we agreed that Sho would have individual care takers but I hope you are willing to make an exception in this case. Again, they will not have any homework from classes that they missed, and all the information will be available on the Dustnet. Well, have a good day."_

After a few seconds of silence, Ruby spoke.

"I'm glad that Ozpin is letting Ren and Nora look after Sho together." She said, sounding a bit relieved. "If it had been just Ren, Nora would've sulked around through all of her classes. And if it had been just Nora," Ruby shuttered at the thought. "Poor little Sho would've have lasted that long." Jaune nodded in agreement, and Ruby looked over at him. "Well, go get dressed." She told him.

"What, why?" He asked.

"Because we can't go get breakfast for everyone in our pajamas." She said as if it was obvious. Seeing Jaune's confused expression, she elaborated. "Since we're already up, and it'd be pointless to go back to sleep, we might as well go grab breakfast again. Now, go get dressed." Without giving him time to argue, Ruby pushed Jaune back into his dorm room and closed the door.

After that, she quietly snuck back into her dorm room and got dressed in her school uniform. She went into the bathroom, cleaned up a little bit, and she was ready for the day. It took her about fifteen minutes or so before she headed for the door, then stopped. Last time she had done this, Yang had gotten pissed at her. This time, she would leave a note. Ruby quickly grabbed a piece a paper and scribbled, 'WENT TO GET BREAKFAST - RUBY', on the front of it. After placing it in plain sight, on top of Blake's bookshelf, she hurried out of the dorm.

Ruby found Jaune waiting for her in front of his dorm door. He was all dressed up and ready to go. "Took you long enough." He teased. Ruby scoffed.

"Please I wasn't even gone twenty minutes." She said as she began to walk towards the cafeteria, leaving Jaune to follow.

"I was still finished three minutes before you were." He said as he hurried to catch up with her.

"It's weird that you counted the minutes, Jaune."

"Well, I was bored. Can't blame me for that."

"Whatever."

The trip to the cafeteria was uneventful. The team leaders decided to get waffles, bagels and a large bowel of fruit for everyone, including Tao, to share. Worrying about Yang getting pissed at them again, they hurried to get back to the RWBY dorm.

When they arrived, Ruby pushed open the door, hiding behind the bag of food as if it were a shield. "We went to go get breakfast, please don't kill us!" She whispered loudly. When no one yelled at her, she lowered the bag-shield, only to see Yang bend down so that her face right in front of hers. Out of surprise, and slight fear, Ruby gave a small yelp and jumped backwards, which made her bump into Juane. But Yang didn't appear to be mad at her, in fact, she was smiling.

"Good morning little sister." The blonde said cheerfully as she stood up straight. She then glanced at Jaune before adding, "You too, Jaune."

"You're not mad?" June asked curiously.

Yang shook her head no and held up a piece of paper in front of him. "Course not! Ruby left a note so I knew where she was. Plus, you guys got breakfast, why would I be mad about that? Anyw- Wait." Yang stopped her rambling and grabbed Jaune by the shirt, pulling him close until his face was a few inches away from hers. Her eyes were narrowed at him suspiciously, and he let out a whimper of fear. "Should I be mad at you?" She pushed him up against the door, the sound of Jaune's armor hitting the wood made a 'thunk' sound. "Did you do something to Ruby that I should be angry about?" Jaune was so scared he couldn't even answer.

"Careful!" Weiss called to her. "You'll dent our door." Jaune mentally yelled at Weiss for being more concerned about the door than him.

"Yang why don't you eat before you kill Jaune." Blake suggested blankly from her bed. She was sitting on the edge of the mattress, reading a book and watching Sho sleep. "But if you do kill him, do it quietly so that you don't wake Sho up."

'_Thanks for the support, Blake!'_ Jaune thought as he panicked. '_Ruby, help me!_

But Jaune realized that Ruby had taken the bag of food he dropped and carried it over to the other two members of her team. The three teammates quickly made themselves each a plate of food and were now watching the spectacle unfold in front of them.

_'Ruby you traitor!'_

Yang pushed the blonde boy a bit harder against the door and he tried to sputter out an answer. Why did she seem so mad at him? And why was he so afraid? After all, he hadn't done anything wrong.

"W-we were just getting b-breakfast." He told her with as level a tone as he could manage. Yang stared at him for a few more moments before her usual smile spread across her lips. She released him, and he slowly slid down the door until he was sitting down on the floor.

"Ok, Jauney boy." Yang said cheerfully before skipping over to get herself a plate of food.

Jaune sat there for a while until he saw someone offer him a hand. It was Ruby, with an amused smile on her face. "Sorry about that, Yang gets moody when she's hungry." She explained. The blonde boy stared at her hand.

"You know, I could've used your help." He said in a pouty tone. Ruby rolled her eyes at him.

"Oh come on, I knew yang wouldn't really kill you." She told him, her hand still out reached. After Jaune grumbled something that was inaudible, he accepted Ruby's hand. When he was standing, the short girl hurried back to her breakfast. Jaune reached to get himself a plate of food, but Ruby lightly slapped his hand away.

"Go tell the rest of team JNPR that its time for breakfast." She instructed him. With a sigh, Jaune obeyed and walked across the hall to his teams's dorm. He knocked and, after a few short seconds, it was answered by Pyrrha.

"Oh, there you are Jaune." She she said happily. She was dressed in her usual armor, and Jaune could see Ren and Nora both dressed in the room behind her.

"Morning Pyrrha." He greeted. "Breakfast is in the RWBY dorm, if you guys are hungr-" He didn't get to finish because Nora pushed past Pyrrha and was now inches away from his face. Why did this keep happening?

"Are there pancakes?!" She asked, her voice laced with a tone of desperation. Jaune gulped.

"Um... No. But-"

"Why aren't there any pancakes?!" Nora cut him off again.

"Well, we had pancakes yesterday so I..." Jaune realized that the orange haired hammer wielder was inching closer to him every passing second. "Ren, help." The blonde knight whimpered.

A hand appeared from behind Nora and landed softly on the girls shoulder. "I'm sure Jaune and Ruby got a good breakfast. Why don't we go eat?" Suggested Ren in his usual gentle voice. Nora thought for a moment, then happily nodded and skipped over to the RWBY dorm. Ren sighed before glancing to Jaune and Pyrrha. Without another word, they followed Nora.

At breakfast, it was announced that Ren and Nora would be the ones to take care of Sho and Tao. As soon as Ruby had said Nora's name, the hammer wielder was taken in the hall, where she squealed with happiness. When she had calmed down, Ren brought her back and said that he would keep a close eye on both of them.

* * *

"Are you sure this is a good idea Ruby?" Blake questioned as they prepared to leave for classes. Team JNPR was on the left side of the room, throwing away dirty paper plates in the trash can. "Even with Ren here, we're leaving Sho in the care Nora!" Needless to say, the Faunus girl was worried about what would happen while she was gone.

"It wasn't my decision, Blake." The young leader replied. "Ozpin's the one with control over our schedules. Besides, look how happy Nora is!"

Blake looked over at Nora, the sight didn't comfort her. The hammer wielder was twirling a plastic knife between her fingers, grinning widely as she did so. At one point, the knife flew from her fingers and embedded itself in the wall. A plastic knife. "Whoopsie!" She giggled. As Weiss yelled at her for putting a crack in the dry wall, Blake looked back at Ruby.

"I'm now even more against letting her looking after Sho." She dead panned.

"Everything will be fine Blake!" Ruby assured her. "Why are you so worked up about it, anyway?"

"Must be the mama cat complex." Weiss chimed in with a smirk. She'd finished scolding Nora and decided to tease her Faunus friend a bit before they went off to class. Blake gave Weiss a harsh stare, to which the heiress pretended not to see.

Blake looked back over at Sho, who was in her bed and currently being checked on by Yang. "Don't worry, you'll have fun with Ren and Nora." The blonde girl assured the young boy. She had kneeled down so that he could see her face. Sho was barely awake, but listened to her words. "Now go back to sleep ok?" He nodded and closed his eyes, falling asleep in seconds. Yang stood up and walked back to where her team and team JNPR had gathered at the door. "He's sleeping." She announced quietly.

"Ok, then lets go to class!" Ruby cheered, which made Blake and Yang cover her mouth.

"Try and be a bit quieter, sis!" Yang whispered, releasing her sister as Blake did the same.

Everyone filed out of the room, except for Ren and Nora. Blake was still very reluctant to leave, so she ended up having to be dragged out by Yang. Before leaving, Ruby turned back to the two members of team JNPR. "Nora, remember to be gentle with him." She pleaded. "And Ren, make sure she doesn't break Sho."

Nora saluted. "Yes ma'am!"

Ren nodded. "Understood."

With that, Ruby ran out the door to catch up with her friends.

* * *

While Sho and Tao slept, Nora struggled to keep quiet, and Ren struggled to keep her quiet. Nora was just so excited to play with him, she could hardly contain herself. She already had a list of things they were all going to do. They would play games, and watch TV, and cook pancakes at the student kitchen, and-

"Nora," Ren's voice interrupted her thoughts. She hadn't even realized that she'd been jumping up and down. "He's waking up." Suppressing a squeal of excitement, she hurried over towards Sho, only to be stopped when Ren stepped in front of her. Nora looked up at her friend questioningly.

"Remember, Sho's only five years old." The long haired boy told her. "He's just now waking up, so he's probably hungry and still tired. Don't be surprised if he doesn't want to play right away." He paused, watching as his childhood friend forced herself to calm down a little.

"Ok." Nora told him with her best calm voice. To demonstrate how well she could control herself, she walked almost normally to the side of Blake's bed and sat on the floor. Ren, nodding with approval, followed and did the same.

Sho slowly opened his eyes, and was met with two smiling faces. He recognized both of them, Ren and Nora. Ren's smile was small and gentle. But Nora's smile was wide with excitement. It got him excited too. He sat up, and Tao hurried to sit in his lap. "Good morning." Sho told them with a yawn.

Ren opened his mouth to respond, but his quiet voice was drowned out by Nora's loud one. "Good morning Sho and Tao!" She yelled, startling Tao and making him jump. "We are going to have so much fun today!" As she began rambling, she ran around the room. "But first you have to eat and get dressed. Not that eating and getting dressed isn't fun, but its nowhere near as much fun as we'll have later!" Nora hung upside down on Yang's bed as she continued. "What kind of games do you like to play? Are you into sports? Card games? How about video games?"

"NORA!" Ren yelled, causing the girl to fall on the floor.

"Yes Ren?" She asked as if nothing had happen. He opened his mouth to tell her to calm down, but he was cut off by the sounds of boyish giggles. Ren and Nora looked over to see Sho laughing.

"You guys are silly." He told them happily. The two team members looked at each other, before grinning and joining the small boy in his laughter.

For the next few hours, the three played various games. They had moved to the JNPR dorm, as Ren had said he wasn't very comfortable spending the day in an all girls dorm room. They found that Sho was particularly good at playing games that needed hand eye coordination, he even beat Ren at a few video games.

Ren was sitting down on his bed, petting Tao gently, when he noticed it was time for lunch. Sho and Nora were sprawled out on the floor, coloring pictures of everything they could think of. Colorful pictures, crayons and blank pieces of paper were strewn across the carpet.

"Ok, time for lunch." He announced and stood up. The red panda quickly jumped and latched onto his back. Nora and Sho pushed themselves up as well, and Nora began rambling on what they would do when they got back. The walk to the cafeteria was full of laughter, coming from Nora and Sho. The only sound that Ren supplied was silence.

When they arrived at the lunchroom, they all walked to the table occupied by team JNPR and RWBY. Blake was very relieved to see that Sho and Tao were still alive and apparently unharmed. Seeing Blake, Tao quickly jumped off of Ren's back and onto the Faunus's shoulder.

After Ren, Nora and Sho got their food and sat at their normal spots, conversation began. "So, do anything dangerous yet?" Yang questioned as she took a bite out if a taco.

"Of course not." Ren answered.

"We had a lotta fun!" Nora interjected. She began to list out all if the activities and everyone listened attentively. Even Blake listened, though she pretended to concentrate on her book.

When lunch was over, everyone said their good byes and parted ways. Ren, Nora, Sho and Tao all headed back up to the JNPR dorm. For the next hour, they continued doing what they had before; Nora and Sho colored a multitude of pictures and Ren watched and pet the red panda.

It was quiet, when suddenly a thought hit Ren like a slap in the face. His eyes drifted to the bookshelf at the end of the room, on top of it was a piece of paper. The long haired teen popped up, surprising all the other room's occupants, and ran over, grabbing the paper with a sense of despair.

"What's wrong, Ren?" Nora asked with concern in her voice. She put down her crayon and sat with her legs crossed. Sho also put down his crayon and sat next to Nora. Ren looked over at the two, then back at the paper.

"It's the essay I did for my Remant History class." He said, unable to look away from his assignment.

"Ooh! Isn't that the class that you had to pass five tests to get into?" Nora asked, unaware of her friends panic.

"Yes." He answered. "And I was supposed to turn this in today."

"Well, don't worry about it." Nora stated happily. "Ozpin said that we don't have to worry about any homework today since we're looking after Sho and Tao!" Ren shook his head.

"The professor in that class is really strict. I can't take the chance of her counting this paper late. It will drop my grade." His eyes flew to the clock above the door. "There's ten minutes left in the class, I think I can still make it if I hurry." He headed for the door, clutching the paper before stopping and looking behind him. Three pairs of eyes stared right back. Ren knew he wouldn't make it if he took all of them. But he couldn't leave Nora alone with Sho either...

As if she could read his mind, Nora spoke up. "Hurry up and go turn in your paper!" She told him with a smile.

"Nora I can't-"

"Sure you can! But if you don't go now, you won't make it!" Ren looked at her doubtfully. The orange haired girl ushered him towards the door. "Go on! We'll be fine." Ren looked at her one last time before sighing.

"Ok." He said finally as he opened the door. "I'll be back in fifteen minutes." He really doubted that this was a good idea. But he couldn't let this essay be counted late. After taking one last look, Ren ran down the hall.

He didn't have time to wait for the elevator, so he flew down the stairs. The class was on the bottom floor, just his luck. He'd already used up about two minutes running, and it took him another minute to reach the bottom of the stairs. Ren barreled through the stairwell door and continued on his trek, he was almost there.

Ren wasn't as worried about the paper as he was about the fact that he'd left Nora alone with Sho and Tao. He should've just stayed there and turned the paper in late. His grade would've dropped, but at least he'd know Sho was safe.

Finally Ren made it to the Remnant History classroom and knocked frantically on the door. He'd made it there in eight minutes, that's eight minutes that Nora was alone with Sho. After what seemed like decades, the professor finally opened the door. The professor was younger than most of the others. She was a young woman who graduated from Beacon herself not even two years ago. She looked at him through aqua blue eyes and pushed away a lock of intruding blue hair that matched them in color.

"Professor Landrum!" Ren panted, trying to catch his breath.

"Ah, Mr Ren." Landrum said in monotone. "If you're here to join us for class, I'm afraid you're a bit late." Ren quickly tried to compose himself.

"I had a prior engagement, didn't the headmaster alert you?" He asked in his most professional manner.

"Mmm, yes. I know all about your team and team RWBY's _situation_." The last word held a hint of amusement. "But, of course, you didn't let that get in the way of your school work, did you?"

"Of course not." He said quickly and handed her his essay. Professor Landrum took a quick look behind her before looking back at Ren.

"One minute to spare. Cutting it kind of close there, aren't you?" She asked as she looked over the essay. The rest of her students had already begun packing up their things.

"Yes, and I'm very sorry about that. But I have to go now!" With that, he took off.

Professor Landrum sighed as she watched him go. Yes, she knew about the two team's situation. If only they knew as much as she did. They definitely would treat it with more seriousness. Oh well. If Ozpin didn't tell them, he must've had good reasons. She turned around and closed the door before addressing her class once more. "Why are you all packed? We still have thirty seconds of class left."

Once again, Ren was running. Running as fast as he could, ignoring the odd looks he received from other students. He kept trying to reassure himself that everything would be ok, that he would get back to the JNPR dorm and he would find Nora and Sho still coloring, with Tao watching. But he still didn't have much hope. When Ren finally arrived at the dorm, he threw open the door. The sight that awaited him was not a welcoming one.

The room was a mess. All of the bed sheets were strewn around the room, as were the books, the crayons were all either broken in half or completely destroyed, and there was a large hole surrounding what used to be a window. But, the most worrying thing was the absence of Nora, Sho and Tao.

For a few moments, Ren was silent. He was taking in the utter shock, and mentally cursing himself for leaving Nora alone. But then he snapped into action. The hole was facing the Emerald Forest, so that's where he would look first. Ren jumped out of the hole, using his aura to slow his decent to the ground, and began running towards the forest. But he wasn't very fast as he'd already used up most of his stamina. As he ran, he tried calling Nora on her scroll. She didn't answer.

* * *

**Fifteen minutes earlier, in the JNPR dorm**

"I hope Ren doesn't get a bad grade on his paper." Sho said when the boy had left. Nora waved off Sho's concern.

"Don't worry." She told him with a smile. "Ren never gets bad grades." Sho went to go grab a crayon, but Nora picked him up and spun around. Sho let out a joy filled laugh as he flew through the air.

"Nora why are we spinning?" He asked, a smile still plastered on his face. The orange haired girl set him down on Jaune's bed.

"Because, we are going to go exploring!" She told him excitedly. Sho looked at her with a puzzled expression. Tao hurriedly jumped into the young boys lap.

"Exploring?" He repeated as a question. Nora nodded in response. "Where are we gonna explore? The school?" She shook her head.

"Nope!" Nora said and skipped over to the window. She pointed to the glass. "We're gonna explore there!" The window gave view to the Emerald Forest. The large expanse of trees looked ominous and mysterious from afar, but it was framed by the afternoon sun and looked almost beautiful. It's eye catching view hid the fact that the forest held hoards of Grimm. It was a wolf in sheep's clothing. But, Sho didn't know that.

"Wow! Really?" The young boy jumped up and down with excitement, causing Tao to fall on the bed, before scrambling to jump on the boys shoulder. Nora nodded once more and Sho ran towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Nora asked with a confused tone, still standing next to the window. Sho looked back at her, Tao still clinging to his back.

"You said we were going to go to the forest. Remember?"

"Yeah, but we're not going down the stairs, that would be to long and boring." The orange haired girl said with a smile. She left her spot at the window and walked to herbed, bending down and rummaging under it. After a few moments, she stood up holding a giant silver cylinder thing. Sho was still confused but now he was also curious of what she was holding. "Sho and Tao, I'd like you to meet my good friend, Magnhild!" The boy walked closer to Nora to inspect the silver device. Suddenly, she pushed something on it and it turned into a giant silver hammer.

"Woah!" Sho fell back on his rear from surprise. Tao quickly climbed from his back to Sho's shoulder. "That's so cool!"

Nora jumped on top of the bookshelf, then stood on top of the hammer side of Magnhild. "Ok, Sho, grab Tao and hop up here." She instructed.

"Ok." He nodded. "Come 'ere Tao." He said and the red panda crawled over his shoulder and into his arms. Sho then climbed on top of the book case, as Nora had said to do.

Nora picked him up and held him with one hand, with the other she grasped the handle of Magnhild. In Sho's arms, Tao began squirming. "Tao doesn't think this is safe." Sho said as he struggled to keep the red panda still. Nora put her hand on her chin as she thought for a moment, then snapped her fingers.

"Oh yeah! I almost forgot!" She exclaimed before pushing open the window. "There! Now we won't break through the glass." Nora stated proudly. Sho nodded, as if this would make whatever they were about to do a whole lot safer. Then again, Sho still had no idea what they were doing. "Ok, hold Tao tight!" She told him as she tightened her grip around him. Sho nodded and did as he was told. He saw Nora aim and then...

She fired.

The hammer flew forward, the propulsion from the shot shooting them through the air, but leaving everything in the room a mess. Nora took another shot to get some more distance, and the aura bullet hit the wall just above the open window, causing a small explosion and leaving a giant hole where the window once was. But neither of them noticed as they soared through the sky.

Nora was not the least bit worried, and cheered loudly as they neared the forest. Sho was screaming, his screams were a mix of fear and excitement. Tao was chattering loudly, full of fear.

They flew past the forest's edge and beyond before they started to descend. Nora held Sho a bit tighter before hopping off Magnhild's head and, still holding onto its handle, pointed it towards the ground. She then fired, only once, to slow them down and used her aura to slow the rest of their descent. When they landed, Nora landed on her rear, one arm tightly wrapped around Sho (who was holding Tao) and the other used to hold Magnhild.

After a few moments of silence, aside from the heavy breathing caused by adrenaline, Nora looked at Sho with a wide smile. "How much fun was that?" She asked, apparently unfazed by what'd just happened.

Sho was silent for a moment as he held the trembling red panda. "...that was scary and awesome at the same time!" He exclaimed, matching Nora's excited smile. The orange haired girl was delighted to here that he was having fun and returned Magnhild to its canon form before returning it to its holster on her back.

"Now, lets go exploring!" She yelled as she popped up off the ground. Sho stood up as well, but fell back down, not expecting the shakiness in his legs. Nora looked down at him worriedly, and Tao stared up at his friend with concern. "Hey, Sho are you ok?" She asked. Maybe it had been a bad idea to let a five year old boy travel by giant hammer.

He nodded. "Yea. I'll be fine. My legs just felt like jelly." He told her as he stood up. "But I'm ok now! I wanna explore!" She regained her smile and nodded. Tao quickly climbed onto Sho's back.

"Ok! Time to explore!"

For the next two hours, Nora, Sho and Tao explored all over emerald forest. Nora taught the young boy everything that she thought was important to know while exploring. She taught him how to find food, what berries tasted good and which ones made your tongue turn purple. She taught him how to climb trees, so that you could scout good spots to explore. And lastly, she taught him different kinds of animal and Grimm calls. They both had a lot of fun, so it startled Nora when she turned her scroll on and it showed she had multiple missed calls from Ren. "Whoops. Guess I shoulda kept my scroll on." She mused. "Hey Sho lets take a break over here while I call Ren back." With a nod, Sho walked over and sat against a tree, forcing Tao to climb off his back and into his arms. While the red panda and the boy sat, Nora dialed Ren's number.

_...beeeeep...beeeeep...beee- "NORA!"_

The loudness of Ren's voice made the girl jump, but she didn't lose her cheerful demeanor. "Hi Ren! Sorry I missed your calls, my scroll was turned off." She apologized, unaware of the trouble she was in.

_"Nora, where are you?!"_ He sounded frantic and out of breath.

"I'm in the emerald forest. Are you ok?"

_"Yes, I'm fine. Just a little winded. I've been looking for you for the past two hours. I couldn't track you because your scroll wasn't turned on. The dorm's a mess Nora, I thought something bad happened."_

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry you. Are you mad?" She asked in her 'I'm-super-duper-sorry-I'll-never-do-it-again' voice. There was a moment of silence, and then she heard him sigh.

_"No, I'm not mad."_ He said, filling Nora with a sense of relief. _"But stay where you are, keep your scroll on and I'll pinpoint your location. Nora, do not let Sho out of your sight-"_

Ren was cut off by a howl. "Nora..." Sho's voice faltered and cracked. She turned around and her eyes widened slightly, as did her smile. A group of at least forty beowolves stood before them, drooling with blood lust in their eyes.

"_Nora, what was-"_

"Sorry Ren! Gotta go play with the puppies!" With that she hung up, pulled out Magnhild as a canon and jumped in front of Sho. "Stay behind me and keep hold of Tao!" Nora told him, though she still smiled. She was very excited to about a chance to fight some Grimm, perhaps to excited. Sho nodded, not planing to go against her words.

One of the beowolves, a medium sized one with extremely large teeth, jumped forward first, it's claws extended. But it didn't seem to be going for Nora, it seemed to be after Sho. It was quickly destroyed with a shot from Magnhild. But the first beowolf was apparently only a distraction, while Nora was focused on protecting Sho, ten more jumped from every angle. She switched Magnhild to its hammer form and swatted them away like flys, but they just kept coming. And Sho was wide open.

Three of the beowolves began to slowly creep towards him. Sho, though young, was observant enough to see he oncoming threat. He knew that Nora told him to stay near her, but he was so scared. He was filled with adrenaline and couldn't make a well thought through decision. So he ran. With Tao clinging to his back, Sho ran as fast as he could in the opposite direction, ignoring Nora who was calling out his name.

Sho was fast for such a small boy, but he was also five years old. There was no way he could outrun beowolves. The creatures of Grimm seemed to know his, because they began toying with him. Two of them flanked him on either side, and one stayed running behind him, nipping at his heels if he got to slow. Sho felt like a bull being herded, or a piece of meat being played with by a predator. Occasionally, the beowolves would let Sho get a little bit ahead, giving him false hope that he'd been allowed to live. But as soon as he began slowing down they would be there again, nipping at his heels and barking with laughter.

He'd been running for seven minutes straight, feeding off nothing but adrenaline, when Sho felt his fuel running low. He would be out of energy soon. The beowolves that followed saw this, and slowed their pace, once again letting Sho get ahead. But now the boy knew their game. When they had given him a bit of distance, he used up what little energy he had left in a sudden burst of speed. Speed that a young boy like him should not possess. But it only lasted for eight seconds, and then he collapsed on his stomach. Tao jumped off his back and began licking his face, trying to urge the boy to continue on.

Sho tried to push himself up, but his arms felt like jelly. "Tao, I can't get up!" He told the animal, panic clear in his voice as he gasped for air. His lungs burned from the lack of oxygen, sweat drenched his body, his black hair was a mess and tears streamed down his face.

A howl sounded from not to far away, and Sho began to hyperventilate. "Tao what do I do?!" He asked in desperation. The red panda looked around, then seemed to spot something. He bit Sho's shirt and pulled him to the right, attempting to get the boy to crawl in that direction. Sho understood this, and crawled to followed Tao. The red panda led him to a giant tree a few feet away. Beneath the large tree roots was a large nook that was hidden relatively well. Sho climbed into the nook, after thanking Tao multiple times, and tried to slow his breathing. He had to lay flat on his stomach but he had enough room to move his arms and legs around a little. Tao climbed in next to him. Then, they waited.

Minutes crawled by slowly, and after what seemed like decades, the three beowolves came into view. Sho held his breath as they began to search the area for him. His scent was all over the ground, but he was unaware of this. One of the Grimm started to get pretty close to his hiding spot, and Sho trembled with fear. Then, as if it was a sudden impulse decision, all three of the Beowolves lunged towards his hiding place. Sho screamed out of surprise and the beowolves grinned evilly, their eyes glued to their prey. They began digging and Sho began crying, knowing that his fate was certain.

_Close your eyes, Sho._

A voice spoke out of no where. It was masculine and calm, like it was trying to assure him everything was going to be ok. With no other options, Sho shut his eyes. As soon as he closed his eyes, he heard the beowolves whimper. There were gunshots and what sounded to be a sword cutting through something, then there was silence.

Sho waited another minute before opening his eyes, and his mouth dropped open at what laid before him. All three beowolves were on the ground, each missing at least one limb and all of them were dead. "Woah..." Was all he could say. "Tao, what happ-... Tao?" As he took a quick look around, Sho notice that his animal friend was no longer in the small hole with them. "Tao?!" He climbed out of the hole, still not able to stand, and spotted the red panda standing next to one of the bodies. "Tao!" Sho called again. This time the animal looked over at Sho. He looked very tired, but brightened up when he saw his human companion. He hurried over the boy and lightly pushed his forehead against Sho's. "Yea, I'm ok." He said with a smile as he pushed himself to sit up. Tao climbed into his lap and the boy began to pet him.

Sho looked over the three dead Grimm. "Did you see what happened?" Sho asked. Tao began chattering and squeaking, sounding like someone had just hit him. "Slow down. I can't understand you when you talk that fast." He told him. As soon as he finished his sentence, another beowolf jumped out from behind a bush, aiming straight at him. "Ahh!" Sho pulled Tao close, despite the animals struggle and closed his eyes, preparing for the worst.

"Hiiiiiiiya!" The loud battle cry was accompanied by the sound of flesh against metal. Sho opened his eyes and saw Nora standing over another dead beowolf, holding Magnhild in hammer form. She turned around, and when she saw him she bent down and threw her arms around the boy.

"I was so worried about you!" She yelled as she hugged him tightly. "I saw you had run off and I tried to follow you, but the puppies just kept coming! I told you to stay near me, why did you run? Sho I'm so happy that you're ok I-"

"Nora... Can't... Breath." Sho muttered speaking for both himself and for Tao.

"Oh, right!" She said and released him. Now that she'd calmed down, Nora noticed the other three beowolves on the ground. "What happened? Did you do this?" She asked. She didnt give him time to answer before she spoke again. "Are you ok?" She began looking him over, poking at his arms and legs and checking his head for bruises. Sho giggled as she poked at his stomach.

"I'm ok, Nora." He told her with a reassuring smile. "But I don't know what happened to the monsters. I was hiding, I closed my eyes, and when I opened them they were all dead."

"Maybe you hopped them with your mind!" Nora exclaimed, suddenly awestruck. "That would be so cool!"

"Nora! Sho!" Another voice called out to them. It was accompanied by Ren, who emerged from a grouping of trees. "There you are!"

"Hey Ren." Nora and Sho greeted him simultaneously. Ren took one look at Sho; the way his face was damp from sweat and tears, and he looked at the dead beowolves around them. "What happened? Did anyone get hurt?"

They both explained their stories, and it left Ren a bit perplexed. "You closed your eyes, and when you opened them they were dead?" He asked to make sure he understood correctly. When Sho nodded, Ren scratched his head. "Interesting. But that's not important right now. We need to get back to the dorm."

"Ok." Sho said and attempted to stand. But his legs were still tired and he fell back down. Tao hurried to his side.

"Sho, what's wrong, can you walk?" Ren asked a bit frantically as he and Nora both went to his side as well.

"Yeah, I'll be ok. But I don't think I can walk." He told them, a bit embarrassed.

"Here. Climb on my back and I'll carry you." Ren told him. Sho nodded and did as he was instructed. Tao climbed up on Nora's shoulder. With a slight grunt, Ren stood up straight. "We need to take Sho to the infirmary to make sure he's ok." Ren said, ignoring Sho when he claimed to be fine. "Oh, Nora, will you call Pyrrha and tell her that everything's ok?" He asked as they began walking towards the school.

"You told them all what happened?" She asked him. He nodded.

"Yeah, they got pretty worried when they heard the explosion coming from the dorms."

"Does professor Ozpin know?"

"I told him that it was a weapon malfunction. He said he would send someone to fix the giant hole in the wall."

"What hole?"

"The hole that you made when you used Magnhild as a mode of transportation."

"Oh... Whoops."

After arriving at the school, Nora and Ren took Sho to the infirmary. By then classes were almost over so Ren texted everyone and told them where they were. While Ren did that, Nora carried Sho and Tao as she followed a nurse when that had called them over. She took them into a room that looked very similar to a patient room at a hospital. She told them to wait and that she would be right back. Nora sat Sho down on the hospital type bed, and Tao jumped off her shoulder to sit next to the boy.

"Hey, Sho." Nora said softly as she stood on front of him. Surprisingly, she wasn't wearing her usual smile.

"What's wrong, Nora?" He asked.

"I'm really sorry about what happened today. I should've waited for Ren to get back before we went exploring. If he had been there, you wouldn't have gotten chased by those beowolves and we wouldn't be in the infirmary." Her voice sounded timid, as if she was picking and choosing her words with extreme caution. She was looking down at the white linoleum floor, and Sho could've sworn he saw a tear rolling down her cheek. She was very un-Nora. "I should've thought it all through before I took you into the forest. I was just so excited that I go to play with you that I got a little reckless. But when you disappeared in the forest I was so worried and I realized how senseless I had been. So, again," She raised her head to look up at him. "I'm sorry."

Sho was silent for a few moments, before he smiled, leaned forward and gave Nora a hug. She was surprised, but gladly returned the gesture. "I know you didn't mean for any of this to happen." He told her softly. "I had an awesome time, Nora. We played games and we got to go exploring!" He pulled away so that she could look at him. "Don't be sorry." Sho reached forward with his hand and wiped away the tear on Nora's cheek. She smiled and once again hugged him. Only this time it was much tighter.

Ren opened the door to the room the nurse had told him to go to, and he smiled at what he saw. Nora was tightly hugging Sho, and she seemed happy. Wait. Sho's face was turning blue.

"Nora!" He called, ran over and separated her from the boy. Sho gasped for oxygen when she finally released him. "How many times do I have to tell you, people need to breath."

"I always forget that." She says, her cheery mood returning to her.

It was then that the nurse appeared and asked what had happened. After Ren and Nora explained, the nurse checked his heart rate and temperature then asked how he was feeling.

"I feel really tired, and my legs still feel a little shaky." He told her. The nurse nodded and scribbled something down on her clipboard.

"I think you just overworked yourself a bit." She told him with a smile before looking at Nora and Ren. "He's probably exhausted. Get him to eat an apple and make sure he drinks lots of water. Then get him straight to bed; he needs to rest for at least the rest of the day." They both nodded.

"We will do that right away. Thank you." Ren told her. The nurse nodded before opening the door. But she was almost trampled as team RWBY and the rest of team JNPR piled in the room.

"Is Sho ok?" Ruby asked the very startled nurse. The woman quickly nodded, repeated what she'd told Ren then hurried out of the room. Blake was already standing in front of Sho, looking him over.

"Nothing's broken, right?" She asked him. Sho shook his head.

"No. I'm ok, just tired." He told her. Blake nodded, then turned around to face Nora. Her eyes were borrowed and her expression was deadly.

"You were supposed to be looking after him." Her tone was colder than ice and it made everyone else in the room cringe.

"I know," Nora began. "But-"

"No!" Blake interrupted her. "Don't try to defend your actions. Sho could have been injured by those beowolves!" Everyone was silent, their eyes locked on the Faunus and Nora.

"He was my responsibility too." Ren stepped up next to Nora. His voice was calm and level, but it had a subtle edge to it. "I am the one who left them alone in the first place, so I am as much at fault as she is." He paused for a moment before narrowing his eyes at Blake and adding. "I am going to ask you that please lower your voice. There is no reason to be hostile. Sho is safe."

But the Faunus was not about to let this go. "You two, were responsible for a child." She said evenly. "That means that you do not leave them alone and you do not take them to a forest full of Grimm." Her eyes were like daggers as she looked to Nora. "Those beowolves could have killed him." When the hammer wielder looked away, Blake raised her voice. "He could've died!"

"Blake..." The Faunus paused when the small boy spoke up. He was still sitting on the hospital type bed, and Tao was sitting in his lap. His voice was soft, yet it seemed to halt Blake's anger. "Don't be mad. They didn't mean it."

For what seemed like years, no one spoke. The tension was so thick you could've cut it with a knife. Blake moved, but she didn't speak. She simply picked up Sho like he were a toddler, and walked out the door. As they left the room, Sho looked over his shoulder and waved goodbye to Ren and Nora.

Then they were gone, leaving everyone else in silence.

* * *

Ozpin sat at his desk, looking over the footage from the emerald forest on his scroll. He was specifically watching the scene of Sho and the three beowolves.

"If only you would tell me what happened..." He spoke to the scroll. "Why are you here? Where is you you're father?" He was talking to himself again. Ozpin was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Come in." He announced with a tired voice. The door opened to reveal young professor Landrum. "Oh, there you are Ms. Landrum." He greeted, not looking away from the holographic scroll.

"I am no longer a student here." She snorted. "I am a professor, please address me as such." She walked over and joined him in watching the scroll.

"Have your contacts responded?" He asked after silence had stretched over them.

"No." She responded quickly. "But I don't understand why Tao won't-"

"Tao has always had his own ways of dealing with a crises." Ozpin cut her off. "We will give him space and monitor his moves. For now, it's all we can do."

* * *

(This took longer than it should have. But then again, it is a LOT longer than the previous chapter. These chapters are going to start taking longer just because I have a problem with writing short chapters.

Originally, I was going to make it Weiss's turn. But then I decided that I wanted to let someone from team JNPR have a turn. I decided to do Ren and Nora together because that's the way the world works.

What did you guys think of the drama at the end of the chapter? I doubt Blake will be getting along with Nora any time soon. But Ren didn't seem to happy with Blake either... Hmm...

Next chapter it will be Weiss's turn. I have a bunch of stuff planned! Please keep the reviews coming, I love the support. Thank you all so much! Every time I get a review it motivates me to keep the writing!

See you guys next time!)


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